Chapter 37: Spell Upgrade, Defense Doubled!

Chapter 37: Spell Upgrade, Defense Doubled!

Once Li Wei stepped in, clearing the spider dens became effortless.

He located the cave spiders, then from dozens of meters away launched a fireball, sending the creature hiding in its trap straight into oblivion.

Occasionally, if the shot strayed and failed to kill, the others swiftly finished off the wounded spider.

Yet in the end, his wish remained unfulfilled.

It wasn’t until past one in the afternoon that the battle finally ended.

Not a single cave spider remained in the woods.

Though Li Wei’s intervention had greatly reduced the difficulty, after such prolonged combat, everyone was utterly exhausted.

Thus, they began their journey back to Maple City.

Lanya walked while counting the spoils. When she finished, she exclaimed in shock: “We’ve slain eighteen cave spiders in total!”

Kunan, Lisa, and Dias all felt exhilarated upon hearing this.

Lisa laughed joyfully, “This is all thanks to Mage Li Wei!”

Kunan counted on his fingers, eyes lighting up: “Our reward for this mission will be five gold and forty silver!”

“Even split evenly, each of us still earns over one gold. I can finally buy a warhorse!”

Dias also wore an excited grin. “I’ll trade for a better blade!”

Lanya smiled. Seeing their enthusiasm filled her with quiet delight.

After a moment’s thought, she said, “Most of our success belongs to Mage Li Wei. I suggest we give him a portion of our reward as gratitude.”

Li Wei shook his head. “No need. The Adventurer’s Guild will compensate me accordingly.”

His payment would be proportionally distributed by the Guild to the Mage Tower, then passed down to him.

The more money Lanya’s group earned, the greater his contribution points would be.

There was no conflict here.

Lisa raised her hand first in agreement. “I have no objection. Without Li Wei’s help, we could never have killed so many spiders or earned such a reward!”

Kunan and Dias exchanged glances, then reluctantly nodded. “We agree as well.”

They returned to the Adventurer’s Guild at half past two in the afternoon.

After submitting the right fangs of the cave spiders as proof, Lanya soon came back with their reward.

She handed Li Wei a gold coin. “Mage Li Wei, this is a small token from our team. Please accept it.”

Li Wei smiled and took the coin.

“Captain Lanya, I take my leave. Perhaps we shall meet again.”

“Safe travels, Mage Li Wei,” Lanya, Lisa, Kunan, and Dias bid him farewell.

Back at the Mage Tower, Li Wei submitted his report to the magical steward.

The steward, already informed by the Adventurer’s Guild, promptly issued the reward upon submission.

“Cave Spider Extermination mission completed. Reward: 3.7 Contribution Points. Points dispensed—please verify receipt.”

Li Wei flipped over his magic insignia. The number on the back now read “3.7.”

Base reward: 1 point. Bonus reward: 2.7 points.

Plus the gold coin from Lanya.

From this outing alone, Li Wei had earned 4.7 gold coins.

A satisfied smile crossed his face.

Spending half a morning was worth it.

But such missions were rare. Most tasks targeted only one or two fixed objectives, offering only base rewards—no bonus, or barely any.

This was pure luck.

Li Wei understood this well.

Most missions offered fixed rewards; those like the spider extermination, paid per kill, were few and far between.

So he had no intention of spending more time chasing such tasks.

After lunch and a brief rest,

Li Wei immersed himself in cultivating mana, practicing spells, strengthening his power.

The shadow of war loomed ever closer.

For the following days, he remained within the Mage Tower, focused solely on training.

Occasionally, he checked for suitable missions. The inevitable law of unexpected satisfaction always struck eventually.

Tasks requiring mage assistance were usually unusual by nature.

Li Wei insisted the missions be nearby—ideally solvable within a single day.

But how many such special tasks could there be near Maple City?

Thus, suitable missions remained elusive.

Time slipped by. Half a month passed in silence.

April 20th.

After two months of relentless, grueling effort, Li Wei finally elevated his Invisible Armor spell.

[Basic Meditation (Great Completion)] 3362/4000

[Small Fireball (Zero-tier Minor Mastery)] 366/4000

[Invisible Armor (Zero-tier Minor Mastery)] 0/4000

Li Wei released the current Invisible Armor enveloping his body.

Then, expending double the mana, he constructed a new spell matrix—a sturdier, invisible armor now cloaked him entirely.

Defense doubled!

The armor’s resilience nearly reached the upper limit of zero-tier spells.

It could easily withstand attacks from low- to mid-level first-rank professionals. Even first-rank spells struggled to breach it.

Its defensive might had already been proven in battle.

Even ambushed by cave spiders—low-tier first-rank monsters—they couldn’t pierce the armor.

Now, its defense had ascended further.

Repelling attacks from mid-tier first-rank magical beasts was no longer difficult.

This level of protection rivaled the common first-rank Magic Shield cast by ordinary mages.

For most mages, achieving proficiency in a spell was already a rare feat.

To reach *minor mastery*—such mages were exceedingly few.

Guzer, a novice mage for over five years, had mastered only a single spell to this level: Ice Arrow.

Mastering a minor-level spell meant that a mage had gained profound understanding of its underlying structure—so much so that they could modify, add to, or remove elements from the spell matrix, thereby crafting a spell uniquely their own.

Gu Ze had created *Triple Ice Arrow*!

Li Wei had forged *Fireball with Tripled Power*! And *Invisible Armor*, whose defensive strength was doubled!

Though called "creation," these were in truth mere modifications.

Only when one’s comprehension of magic deepened further could one truly "create" a spell born entirely from the self.

And Li Wei was steadily marching toward that goal.

"Ding. You have a message. Please check."

The magical badge chimed softly.

Li Wei shifted his gaze; the characters before him dissolved into mist.

He picked up the badge and read:

"New Mission—Hunt down a Black Cultist of the Yubis Church."

Moments later, a magical servant delivered the mission scroll to his door.

Li Wei took it and scanned the details:

"A Black Cultist of the Yubis Church has fled to Mapleleaf City. According to the avenging knights who pursued him, this cultist is guilty of countless atrocities—repeated blood sacrifices to dark deities, gaining a sliver of divine demonic power. He has slain several first-rank professional practitioners."

"According to intelligence from the Assassin Guild, the cultist may be hiding within the city's sewer system."

"The Practitioners' Association has recently received multiple reports of missing persons. They suspect the fugitive cultist is attempting another sacrificial ritual. They request urgent assistance from the Mage Tower to eliminate this hidden threat within Mapleleaf City."

After reading, Li Wei immediately declined.

The reward was generous—five contribution points as base pay.

But far too dangerous!

That the cultist had killed several first-rank practitioners meant his strength could not be underestimated.

Li Wei had no intention of wading into such perilous waters.

He did not accept the mission. Minutes later, the magical steward informed him it had already been claimed by another. He could no longer take it.

Li Wei felt no regret.

(End of Chapter)